Shares lost early gains to edge lower on Monday despite private surveys pointing to improvement in the labour market and construction sector.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index and the broader All Ordinaries Index each edged down 0.1 per cent, on Monday to 5518.9 points and 5506.3 points respectively, with a boost from the continued flurry of corporate deal activity not enough to buoy the market.

Local shares opened higher but fell away with limited cues from offshore after equity markets in the United States were closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday.

A raft of long-term investors are increasingly cautious about the market’s ability to keep pushing higher without a correction.

“The past year has been characterised by low and easing volatility, anaemic trading volumes, but on the whole, reasonable investment returns and an absence of crises,” Schroders head of Australian equities Martin Conlon said.

Investors should buy up the Australian dollar while it's weak, with potential for appreciation as large sovereign investors look to top up Australian dollar positions.

That's the view of Todd Elmer, Citigroup’s Singapore-based head of Group of 10 FX strategy, who thinks that the Reserve Bank of Australia’s jawboning - or verbal overtures - will have a diminishing effect over time.

Last week, RBA governor Glenn Stevens shocked traders with his assertion that the Australian dollar was more than a few cents overvalued.

The currency responded with a sharp drop of more than half a cent as he spoke.

The Australian dollar still hasn’t recovered, fetching US93.57¢ on Monday afternoon in a flat session.

The head of struggling clothing maker Pacific Brands has quit amid a boardroom battle about how to revive the company’s fortunes.

Pacific Brands, which makes Bonds and Sheridan sheets, said a search had begun to find a successor to John Pollaers.

"John’s decision to leave now has been driven by divergence between his views and those of the board regarding the best path forward for the company and its businesses," chairman Peter Bush said in a statement on Monday.

2:31pm on 7 Jul 2014

Roy Morgan's Business Confidence survey fell a further 6.2 points in June from May, suggesting businesses have not recovered from the blow dealt by the budget. "Business confidence is now 28.2 points (20.7 per cent) below the peak of 136.3 in October 2013 following the new government and the lowest level recorded since June 2012 when it was 105.4," the survey said.

Roy Morgan business confidence

2:24pm on 7 Jul 2014

Citigroup has upgraded Nufarm to neutral from sell.

It is confident of a stronger balance sheet and sees a chance for "robust earnings growth" in 2014-15 - though not without risks including the prospect of an El Nino event. "The strong cash inflow we expect in 2H14 is only the first step towards full balance sheet rehabilitation," the broker says.

Nufarm's price target has been raised to $4.65 from $4.20.

El Nino could be a risk to winter crop production.

2:16pm on 7 Jul 2014

Credit Suisse has upgraded Myer to outperform from neutral saying it is cheap, has a good yield, and its financials are poised to improve.

Credit Suisse has warned clients about a number of stocks they think are part of a crowded trade that could go pear shaped this reporting season.

The broker believes that David Jones, Primary Health Care, Orica and Ansell are crowded short trades among the top 100 stocks, while The Reject Shop, Acrux and Buru Energy had been heavily shorted among the small caps.

Some ideas from AllianceBernstein's Hayden Briscoe who is a director of Asia Pacific fixed income on the three dark horses of the global economy.

He believes that even half-successful economic and financial reforms in China, India and Japan could "lead to a significant re-rating of the countries and the region as a whole".

"Even now, these countries and Asia as a whole are more positive investment propositions than, say, Europe or other parts of the emerging markets, particularly Eastern Europe," he writes, highlighting low inflation and reasonably priced bonds. Currencies should trade narrowly and interest rate settings open up plenty of attractive carry trade opportunities.

1:48pm on 7 Jul 2014

CommSec analyses the strongest growth of tourism inflows in 14 years:

"In just under four years, the annual number of Chinese tourists to Australia has doubled. And although the growth rate has slowed a touch in recent months, China will still surpass New Zealand as our primary source of tourists in around four years’ time. The other important development is that overall tourist arrivals are growing at the fastest pace in 14 years – no doubt boosted by the improvement in the global economy, and mildly weaker Aussie dollar."

China set to surpass New Zealand arrivals

1:41pm on 7 Jul 2014

Waiting three months for the latest blockbuster movie to become available in stores or online could soon become a thing of the past.

PwC executive director Megan Brownlow said the film industry was looking at ways to reduce the cinema release window - the amount of time new movies spend at the box office - in favour of releasing them at retail stores and online sooner, as they struggle to maintain or grow industry revenues.

The wait between a cinema release and a DVD or online version is typically 90 and 120 days but Dreamworks chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said 98 per cent of films made 95 per cent of their box office revenue within their first three weekends at the box office.

PwC figures released Monday indicate spending at the box office in Australia will increase by a compound annual growth rate of 3.3 per cent over five years - from $1.1 billion in 2013 to $1.29 billion in 2018.

Japan’s biggest telecommunications player NTT is lobbying Telstra to become its biggest partner in a push to become a dominant player in Asia.

Telstra chief executive David Thodey has set Telstra the ambitious goal of reaping around 33 per cent of its net profit and revenues from Asia by 2020 onwards compared to the 3 per cent it currently stands at. Analysts believe this can only be achieved with major acquisitions or partnerships.

NTT Communications ICT chief executive Monte Davis told Fairfax Media that partnering with the Japanese giant was one of the only ways Mr Thodey could achieve his goal due to the lack of takeover options.

Some analysis from BusinessDay columnist Elizabeth Knight on the Wotif takeover:

"It started as a pioneering technology disrupter in the hotel booking space 14 years ago, but Wotif has already reached its use by date.

The next wave of global competitors have now disrupted it, leaving it little option other than to get out.

Under these circumstances the $703 million price tag being offered for Wotif by Expedia is generous enough but the shares were worth significant more than this a year ago.

The offer of $3.30 (which runs to a value of $3.40 if you can use the franking credits) represents a 30 per cent premium to the prevailing share price but doesn’t compare well with last year’s high of $5.63.

Over the past 18 months it has become increasingly evident that large accommodation sites have been more aggressively colonising the Australian market for online accommodation and airfares."

China posted the sharpest increase in output for 15 months, while India saw the steepest expansion since February 2013. Russian private sector output stabilised, having fallen at the strongest rate in five years in May. Brazil, however, registered a further flat trend in activity," the report says.